---

In a manner expected of the most volatile friend Kimura has, the blinding gold of Tsume's voice exploded from beside her as the fiery redhead made the disrespectful jonin know just how she felt about being insulted. While being forced to squint at the onslaught of color was something the Inuzuka girl didn't enjoy, she was happy to see that Tsume was still being Tsume, even toward a superior during what's essentially a promotion ceremony.

The one who wasn't quite as touched by the sentiment, however, was Guremaru, jolted from his drowsy state into full alertness from the sudden shouting so close to him. Scrambling to stand atop his black-haired perch, it only took the puppy a moment to realize what exactly caught him off-guard before slowly relaxing back down on his partner's head with a slightly annoyed bark.

"Aww, you shouldn't say that about a friend," Kimura chastised, stroking the grey fur atop his noggin to calm him down and help him return to his previous sleepiness. "Tsume-chan was just standing up for everyone. You know, like she usually does!"

The puppy merely replied with a low growl before closing his eyes, snuggling into his perfect napping place as the owner of said hair quietly giggled. Silly dog. Though he does have a point. At the very least, Tsume's potential imposter is doing really well with their acting today, though in retrospect this moment will probably come back to bite her should the Yakushi ever be placed under the authority of this particular sensei.

Said sensei apparently came to the same conclusion, as Kimura noticed a devious smile cross the woman's face before the final sensei showed up and drew everyone's attention with his english ivy greeting. A plain look, with no defining features aside from the rough stubble that graced his jawline. Someone she'd never seen in the village before. Suspicious, and fits with a capital T. If it wasn't for the pair of glares sparked with familiarity from the two other sensei, she might have called him out as a spy right there and then.

Sadly, the shinobi-to-be didn't get much of a chance to inscribe what she could of the man's physical appearance and other noticeable features before the Academy Instructor called everyone to attention, citing off names for the new jonin sensei as well as the students taught beneath them. A few choices catch her ear, Shunpei and Tsume being placed under the inconspicuous Kitanai, Ria under the firebrand Matsuoka, then Tensai and herself assigned to the crow-like Shinatobe.

While she was slightly concerned about her two friends being placed under the potential enemy agent, the interaction of Shunpei with Tensai worried her even more. The offered hand to help Tensai up, the focus of their overheard conversation, and the strange transition from a half-formed fist to a slightly awkward shoulder pat all painted a picture Kimura wasn't sure was supposed to be of.

The three of them were quite inseparable despite their contrasting personalities. No one would expect the local peasant boy to be friends with the noble top-dog of their academy year and the Inuzuka weird even by their standards, yet somehow they all stuck together and became close friends despite the strange mix they made. Yet, the unseen conversation happening between the two made it seem as if they were pivy to a secret she wasn't, and a sinking feeling made its way into her gut when she thought of the unimaginable amount of potential things it could be. It was almost as if...

Kimura slapped her cheeks to banish the thought that popped up in her mind. There was no way they were attempting to stage a secret coup on the sensei to instantly promote to jonin. She had absolutely no idea how her mind led her to that idea, but she quickly pushed it as far away from her inner psyche as possible. It was just dumb and stupid and impossible and oh geez how should she help them if it was true?!

Before she could let her mind wander even further, she focused her attention at the matter at hand. Her body must have auto-piloted to Tensai's side at some point, because she found herself standing by his side facing their potential sensei, Shinatobe Uchiha. When Uchiha Narumi was still alive, Kimura could remember the woman speaking at times of a sibling. Abrasive and unwilling to connect with Tensai and his mother, the few things Kimura had heard of the new sensei weren't exactly a vote of confidence.

The last teammate of the team being who they were didn't help matters in the slightest. Fukushu was one of the only classmates she considered to be dislikeable, and with two pairs of eyes staring at her friend with negative emotions behind their gazes, the Inuzuka couldn't help but feel somewhat protective. Her arms twitched as she kept herself from drawing a blade and stepping in front of Tensai to ward off their looks, but one close enough to hear could catch the faint grinding of her teeth.

As the sensei left the three students to work things out among themselves, Kimura didn't quite understand what the crow-like woman had had meant. Lead Tensai to the training ground? Was it a subtle hint that her fellow classmate was being targeted by bloodline thieves? The brunette didn't give it too much thought, and quickly grasped the boy's hand with her usual level of enthusiasm to pull him along, not giving the Namikaze more than a second glance.

"Come on, Tensai-kun! Let's give our new sensei a good impression by getting there quickly!"

In all honesty, if Fukushu didn't go along with them and just met up at the meeting point at her own pace, Kimura wouldn't be very torn up about it. She didn't much like the fact that the girl had broken off her friendship with Tensai and competed with Tensai in a non-friendly manner. The eggplant-haired girl would just have to cool down whatever feelings she had before Kimura would accept her as a teammate, no matter the team assignments.

---

Although she had said not a word in response to his greeting, Shunpei had always known Mitsuko to be quite quiet. He couldn’t say it was a trait shared by he and his usual company, but it was one he could appreciate, like coming home for dinner after a long day of play. He wasn’t concerned about her silence.

What he was concerned about, however, was how she had so suddenly become flush with color! Usually Mitsuko was all pale and light, like a Hyuga ought to be, but right now she was more like a beet.

Despite Shunpei’s social intuition, Mitsuko had always been a hard one to read. Her emotions were like a tranquil sea, and even after years of being her friend, he couldn’t be completely confident in his ability to pierce the depths of her heart.

He was also kind of dumb, which might have played a not insignificant role in what he did next.

When the farm boy saw his friend’s face flushed a deep red, he did not think about the possibility she was simply embarrassed. He did not think about the possibility this could all have been his fault. What he did think about was today: the day they graduated, the day they met their sensei, and the day that began with torrential rainfall.

“Are you sick or somethin’?” Shunpei asked innocently, “You’re lookin’ awful red there…”

The farm boy would have continued pondering on the exact nature of Mitsuko’s condition if it weren’t for Tsume’s... not-inaccurate-but-also-not-accurate introduction of the two to their sensei. He’d even caught the side comment, unfortunately.

"Erm... Tsume-san, uh... My name's not Shunichi..." the Hatake pointed out, “It’s Shunpei.”

Now, even though she hung out with Fukushu and he hung out with Tensai, Shunpei didn’t have anything against Tsume. Sure she was loud and reckless and couldn’t read a room for the life of her, but she wasn’t a bad person as far as he could tell. Heck, Shunpei could even appreciate her attempt at keeping her snide thoughts between the sensei and herself (which in and of itself was indicative of the issue she had pointed out).

But it still really hurt knowing that one of his beloved classmates couldn't even remember his name even after several years. It just went to show how much of an impact he had made in the minds of his peers. How utterly depressing.

“Haha...! But don’t worry about it,” Shunpei laughed. It was an awkward, anxious and inelegant, but it nevertheless held a touch of sincerity. “I reckon you’ll remember real well when I become Hokage. Then ya can be like sensei over here! Heh… Heh...”

He let that statement stand, partially because he couldn’t think of anything else to say, but mostly because he couldn’t possibly belt out another line like that. He really just wanted to curl into his stomach. It was too embarrassing now that he heard it out loud!

Shunpei promptly turned to watch the other teams depart, which gave him time to smile and wave. The fact it meant he was looking away from his team was a happy accident. Once the heat had left his face and his last former-classmate had left the building, Shunpei directed his attention back to the team.

According to the jonin, they were going to the hospital, which was weird. Everyone else was going off to training grounds, which made sense. What business did they have at the hospital?

At the risk of seeming like Kimura, the Hatake began speculating.

Surely their sensei wasn’t planning on having them train there; that would cause such a ruckus! Maybe he was planning on having them help out there instead, but as far as Shunpei knew, Mitsuko was the only one on the team who knew much about medicine. Tsume was always more a punchy-type, and his own talents were also not (in generous terms) medically-inclined. Were they really that strapped for people?

Oh! Maybe they were going to visit an injured shinobi contact and go off on a super cool mission! That’d be sick--not the same kind of sick that Mitsuko was, but sick sick.

But that was putting the cart before the horse. First they had to find somewhere to eat that was relatively close to the hospital. But where?

At that moment, Shunpei hammered his palm.

“Oh! Kitanai-sensei!” the genin bounced, eager to be of use. His had arm shot into the air as if he were going to wait for his sensei to call on him, which he did not. “I know a place we can go. Follow me!”

And so, Shunpei sprinted off into the rain-soaked streets of Konohagakure.

---

As excited as the Hatake had been, the destination was not very impressive. Shunpei’s path brought Team Kitanai to a hole-in-the-wall ramen stall in Konohagakure’s minor clan quarter. Most people going about day to day business in the village wouldn't stumble across this place unless they knew what they were looking for, and the design reflected this. The prices advertised were hilariously low; one could live off of the food here on an orphan’s stipend if they so wanted to. The stall only had enough seats for six people total, one of which was occupied already. Emblazoned on the dirty noren was red kanji spelling the shop’s name.

Ramen Ichiraku.

Shunpei pushed aside the noren and stopped in his tracks. He cast a look over his shoulder to see if the other two were still behind him, which they were. But if that was the case, then this was really weird!

“What in tarnation?” Shunpei scratched the side of his head, ”Kitanai-sensei, what’re-- How’re you able to get her so quick? I didn’t even say where we were goin’!”

---

A few moments after she had disappeared from the Academy, Matsuoka reappeared at the designated meeting spot for her team in a similar gout of smoke. With a hand to her temple, she attempted to smooth out her oncoming migraine as she reviewed just who exactly was in her team of misfits.

Two kids from some of the most prominent clans in Konoha, the Senju and the Uchiha, and a lesser clan known for their mind techniques. Even more than that, the daughter of her former teammate was under her wing, and she couldn't help but think how Kazuma Uchiha will react once he figures it out.

While none of them were clan heirs, the fact that this combination of brats is the first team she'd ever become the direct sensei of is not without stress. She would curse her superior out, if the Hokage were to somehow walk up to her at that specific moment, though in all honesty she would curse out the milky eyed bitch any day of the week anyways just out of principle. The sudden saddling of a greenhorn trio didn't help though.

With a sigh, the potential sensei observed the area around her, making sure the training ground was as she left it when she scouted it earlier that morning. A large clearing, surrounded on all sides by a large thicket of trees, with large boulders and fallen tree trunks littered across the dirt as makeshift cover and potential obstacles. A collection of shaven stumps were spaced evenly across the ground, encircling the clearing around its edge and numbering just as many as the training ground's number: thirteen.

Perfect. Matsuoka glanced through the trees toward the village proper, where not far away her three students would be approaching from the Academy. They were in for a rude awakening, if they thought her test would be an easy one. She would grind them into dust, light a fire under their asses, and blow them away.

But maybe, just maybe, if they had the guts and the drive to succeed they would understand just what kind of sensei she would be, and what exactly she expected from her would-be-students.

With that thought in mind, the Sarutobi crossed her index and middle fingers in front of her, perpendicular to each other as a loud "pop" filled the clearing.

---

When the trio finally arrived with Ria in the lead, their future sensei was perched atop one of the thirteen stumps in the training ground, the farthest one away in fact. Her eyes snapped to the academy students in a hurry, as if she had been focused on something else beforehand, and clapped her hands loud enough to echo through the clearing to catch their attention.

"About damn time, fresh meat!" Matsuoka yelled, hopping up from her slouched position to stand atop the stump with an annoyed glare. "If my genin test was to see how quickly you can move your asses, I'd fail you all on the spot!"

The brunette unlatched her long bo-staff from her back, twirling it around her body to the front before slamming it into the ground beneath, the staff long enough that she could still lean on it despite being elevated a foot or two above the other end.

"Unluckily for you dumbasses, I'm not nice enough to let you just walk away without drilling into you just how unprepared you poor bastards are for the ninja world! Now get over here before I have to drag you along the fucking dirt so I can explain this shit to you!"

---

The Inuzuka's mild irritation with Fukushu dissipated the farther the duo got from the Academy, as if leaving the scene where she became so frustrated in the first place was a balm to her emotions. When it abated enough that she had enough rationale to think things through, the brunette was a bit disappointed in herself with how she dealt with the situation.

"Sorry about that Tensai-kun," Kimura apologized, never letting go of the Uchiha's wrist as she half-led half-dragged him through Konoha toward the village outskirts where their new sensei said was the meeting place. "I don't really know what came over me back there. I just really wanted to leave for some reason!"

While she was mostly occupied with looking ahead, mapping out a path in her head as she absentmindedly moved through and around obstacles like stairs, alleyways and people, the Inuzuka gained a stunned expression as she felt Tensai stumble behind her. When she turned to look, however, the boy had already recovered, but the event in of itself was a shock to the brunette. Not once in her life could she think of a time that Tensai would stumble on his own, even during one of the many moments she would pull him along, similar to now. Kimura didn't usually pay attention to Tensai's actions, as he was skilled and acclimated enough to her antics that he would be able to deal with however she brought him along with ease.

Her suspicion rose, her eyes narrowing at the boy behind her as she mumbled low enough that only Guremaru would be able to hear to keep his eyes on 'Tensai', just in case the apparent Uchiha showed any other new developments that could rat him out as a fake. While she still kept up her guard the second time he tripped, only storing it in her mind as yet another strike against the would-be-spy, she could only feel bad about the subsequent ones. By the time Tensai stood his ground, the Inuzuka had almost expected it, worry wiping away the idea of any conspiracy at play in her mind.

For once, Kimura was silent, only waiting for her best friend to speak as he undoubtedly wished to do so. When the request came, she had already spotted a good alleyway where someone could lose them in the crowd before their escape could be noticed, and quickly led him over in a timely fashion. Despite the rising sun, the side path was covered in shadow as the young girl stopped to hear what Tensai had to say. The copious amount of sweat, the quick beating of his heart, the heaviness of his breath, all signs picked up by the Inuzuka's enhanced senses that pointed her to the fact that he was going to say something very important. Something that could very well be a well-kept secret.

When he snapped his head toward her general direction, though his gaze was fixated upon the space where Guremaru lay upon her hair, the glimpse of his glazed over eyes was all the proof she needed to know that his words were true. Her earlier misgivings about the validity of her friend's identity stabbed her like a cold knife to the gut, and it was that moment of dismay that allowed Tensai to break away from her and run toward the main street. But near instantly, the new information that one of her best friends, one who she'd sparred with and lost to hundreds of times before, was blind, forced her to act swiftly.

A kunai, wire already tied to the ring at the end, was thrown toward the wall, ricocheting to pull the wire in front of Tensai. As he wouldn't have been able to see the wire, he probably wouldn't have thought to stop himself from running into the iron thread, said thread causing the kunai to spin around mid-flight, wrapping him in even more wire until he was bundled up enough that it hindered his movement. Enough for Kimura to run up behind him and wrap him in a hug, pulling him away from the street and back into the alleyway just before he could run face-first into a passerby.

Though Tensai might have struggled, she continued to hold him down with all her might, the bound wire making up for their difference in strength as she pulled him as close to her chest as she could. For a few, long moments, she was at a loss for words, unable to say anything about what was just revealed to her. She had no idea how it happened, nor why, nor did she know what emotions he must be feeling and had been since whatever incident stole his sight. All she knew she could do was hug him tightly, her eyes wet as she realized that her friend might be unable to truly become a ninja despite just becoming a genin.

"I'm sorry..."